Creating the perfect password

News nowadays has at least one big hacker scandal a year that involves millions of Americans losing tons of money because their passwords weren’t strong enough. Here’s some ways to protect your accounts from hackers.

photo from my.techtex.com

1. Passwords without Public Information

It’s easier for hackers to get into your accounts if they know you personally. Stuff like your birthday, name, and the name of your pet should be left out of the password. Hackers guess the average person’s nearly 73% of the time. Make your password to withstand nearly 100 tries.

2. Throw a Hail Mary and Make it Long

The newest guidelines from the National Institute of Standards and Technology suggests that your passwords should be 64 characters. If you are like me, that’s WAY TOO LONG but creating a sentence that you could remember or using words that you like, you will reach the 64 character mark and make it a nightmare for hackers.

3. Don’t Change Your Password Unless you Have To

NIST used to recommend you to change your password every three months but Paul Grassi at NIST, told the Institute “Expiration isn’t a motivator to create a new password but to shift one character so you can remember the password.”

If you have a strong enough password, there’s no reason for you to change it, unless you go to Radford University and in that case, you have to change your password every six months. Maybe it’s time to change the school’s policy.

4 & 5. Get Creative with characters and Use Two-Factor Identification

If making your passwords a sentences, you can easily add characters like !,$. and % into them without problem.

Use a two-factor identification—which is basically two passwords, your regular password and one that is sent your phone. This is in the form of messages, emails, and special apps. Two factor also lets you know when a password is changed or entered on a new device. You have to verify that’s you attempting to gain access with another password.

With these tips, you will be one step closer to protecting yourself and your information from hacking attempts every year.